Port Arthur’s post office opened in 1896, and 9 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #143 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Port Arthur was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 9 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 21 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1900.
From Port Arthur’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Port Arthur began
When was Port Arthur founded?
1896
The Port Arthur post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Sabine City (1839) and Sabine (1899), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 900 in 19002020 census: 56,039130 years
How historic is Port Arthur?
B−
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Port Arthur post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Port Arthur’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port Arthur is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #143 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Port Arthur’s overall grade.
Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Port Arthur’s 4.8 sits above most of its state (81% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 27 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Port Arthur’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Air Logistics Sabine HeliportairportHHI-Sabine HeliportairportPetroleum Helicopters Incorporated HeliportairportPort Arthur Pleasure PierlocaleTexas Menhaden Strip Airportairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Port Arthur
CalvaryMcGaffeyPace
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Port Arthur, building by building, 1900–1930
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Aurora was an early settlement attempt near the mouth of Taylor Bayou on Sabine Lake, about 14 miles (23 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide. It is a saltwater estuary formed by the confluence of the Neches and Sabine Rivers. Through its tidal outlet, 5-mile-long (8 km) Sabine Pass, Sabine Lake drains some 50,000 sq mi (100,000 km2) of Texas and Louisiana into the Gulf of Mexico. The town was conceived in 1837, and in 1840 promoters led by Almanzon Huston were offering town lots for sale. Some were sold, but Huston's project failed to attract many settlers. The area next was known as "Sparks", after John Sparks, who moved his family to the shores of Sabine Lake near the site of Aurora. The Eastern Texas Railroad, completed between Sabine Pass and Beaumont, Texas, passed 4 miles (6 km) west of Sparks. However, the American Civil War soon began, and rail lines were removed. In 1886, a destr…
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Port Arthur post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Port Arthur rank for history?
Port Arthur is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #143 of 642 in Texas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Port Arthur?
9 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Pompeiian Villa (listed 1973, the first), 2 historic districts, the Eddingston Court and the Port Arthur Downtown Historic District, with 21 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 27 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Port Arthur?
5% of Port Arthur’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1976.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (9), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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